tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761720971433980858.post4750218444422269475..comments2023-11-03T05:08:58.618-07:00Comments on Let's Go Birds: Blue/White/Camp ThoughtsThunnexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789566664956835210noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761720971433980858.post-2678978137174571812014-09-02T18:08:35.278-07:002014-09-02T18:08:35.278-07:00I wasn't able to get to any of the pre-season ...I wasn't able to get to any of the pre-season games in Everett. Anyone have any opinions to offer about what they saw?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761720971433980858.post-91075186540464914202014-08-29T10:50:23.629-07:002014-08-29T10:50:23.629-07:00A huge x-factor in that discussion has to be Scott...A huge x-factor in that discussion has to be Scott Eansor.. After a slow regular season, he busted out with 4 goals in 9 playoff games. He could make a big difference when determining what we have in those other lines. That, and we don't really know what we have in the Euros just yet.. But this team really needs to trade defense for a good offensive game changer. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761720971433980858.post-79450427743982772252014-08-29T08:13:18.183-07:002014-08-29T08:13:18.183-07:00And there is the best argument against hickman-bar...And there is the best argument against hickman-barzal-gropp forming a permanent line. With how much kono changed lines last year I don't think we will see those guys together all the time. Also, we do need secondary scoring but at least to start the year I think Russ will try to make that happen from within. There are a lot of guys on this roster that look like they could score if given the chance. We probably will trade a 17 for a 19 at some point but I bet the 19 we get is more of a shut down guy. Having said that I am most definitely in favor of us picking up a guy like Cole ully, I just don't think its gonna happen.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761720971433980858.post-53306509380837245352014-08-28T19:12:37.915-07:002014-08-28T19:12:37.915-07:00that is a HUGE concern as of now. No set secondary...that is a HUGE concern as of now. No set secondary scoring. Top dmen and shutdown lines will be all over Gropp/Barzal/Hickman and we just have to hope guys like True,Kolesar,Baltram,Pederson etc etc can find a scoring touch. If I was Russ I would definitely try to trade for a scoring 19 year old. Maybe on a team that is in rebuild mode...ex. maybe someone like Cole Ully in Kamloops maybe?.. Im sure he will be in Dallas organization after this season so he may be a good guy to trade for this year.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761720971433980858.post-53163761837030327492014-08-28T14:59:43.843-07:002014-08-28T14:59:43.843-07:00Is there any concern that this team might become a...Is there any concern that this team might become a one-scoring-line team? Gropp, Hickman and Barzal together sure looks potent, but what do we do for a second scoring line?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761720971433980858.post-69821814859434313992014-08-28T12:20:15.093-07:002014-08-28T12:20:15.093-07:00Anon 8:50 - I do think you can pretty easily say t...Anon 8:50 - I do think you can pretty easily say the Western Conference has been tougher even if the East has one the WHL Finals 4 out of 5 years. One team in the East being better than one team in the West doesn't really cancel out the pile of data we have that would suggest that the West has been the stronger and deeper conference top to bottom.<br /><br />Anon 12:18 - Pederson definitely makes the team. Hasn't flashed enough for me to really get a good feel of his game yet. So I'm going to punt on this for now.Thunnexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13789566664956835210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761720971433980858.post-20793506108101017482014-08-28T12:17:33.974-07:002014-08-28T12:17:33.974-07:00What are your thoughts on what you have seen on La...What are your thoughts on what you have seen on Lane Pederson and if he will make the team or not?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761720971433980858.post-6433970525123679912014-08-28T08:50:51.834-07:002014-08-28T08:50:51.834-07:00Hard to call the Western Conference the league'...Hard to call the Western Conference the league's powerhouse when over the recent past the Eastern Conference has won 4 of the last 5 WHL titles.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761720971433980858.post-63253161348801432522014-08-28T08:17:54.513-07:002014-08-28T08:17:54.513-07:00Portland probably finishes atop the division and p...Portland probably finishes atop the division and possibly the conference. No way do they match last years totals. I think the US division looks like this:<br />Portland<br />Seattle<br />Everett<br />Trip City<br />Spokane<br /><br />BC looks like this:<br />Kelowna<br />Victoria<br />Vancouver<br />Prince George<br />Kamloops<br /><br />So basically the same as last year except maybe Vancouver or PG surprises us. Kamloops could too for that matter. I don't think the BC division will be as bad this year, but overall I think the western conference is done being the powerhouse it has been in recent years due to Portland's inevitable decline.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761720971433980858.post-22829102518264571572014-08-27T16:36:02.851-07:002014-08-27T16:36:02.851-07:003) Lastly, and in my opinion probably the most imp...3) Lastly, and in my opinion probably the most important part, the US Division is not going to look the same as they did last year. Now I'm no expert on any or all of the other teams, but I do think I know more about them than your "casual" fan (but if anyone wants to disagree on any of these points, please do so):<br />1) Spokane is currently struggling to find decent players and with the loss of Holmberg and Aviani I think they are in some serious trouble.<br />2) Tri-City will almost certainly be better than last year, but considering where they ended up, I would be hard pressed to see them competing for the Division Championship (though stranger things have happened).<br />3) Portland will still be good this year... I think this is the last year before they finally (HOPEFULLY) fall off their "power trip", but they still are likely to lose a combined 264 points in Brendan Leipsic, Taylor Leier, Mathew Dumba, and Derrick Pouliot, who should all be playing in the AHL this season... And pair this with a lack of team chemistry with their new coach; things might get tougher for them than people think.<br />4) Everett always seems to be the wild card... Yes they haven't been much better or much worse than Seattle over the last few seasons, but they always seem to win when they are expected to lose and lose when they are expected to win.... And with Constantine working on his second season back as coach, things could get interesting.<br /><br />I am by no means saying Seattle is going to run away with the Division or that they will even win it... But I think if Seattle can set themselves up to be at least in the top 2 of the division (if not number 1), things could get really interesting come playoff time... But it all comes down to one thing... Consistency.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10203634881409897250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761720971433980858.post-48342494736465407392014-08-27T16:35:52.451-07:002014-08-27T16:35:52.451-07:00For the most part I agree with you... But I'm ...For the most part I agree with you... But I'm going to go out on a limb to say that while they are by no means the favorite to win the championship (and I have also been saying all off-season that next season is going to be our real push), as things stand right now I'm thinking top 4 in the conference with a decent chance of at least making the Conference Finals.<br /><br />I say this for a number of reasons...<br /><br />1) While we are looking at losing 10 - 11 players from last season, almost all of them are forwards. YES, this might hamper our total goal output, but based on the stats from last season, I am less concerned with goals scored and more concerned with goals against. Last season we gave up 249 goals, the most of any team to make the playoffs in the Western conference. While keeping stats last season, I got interested in looking at what our record would have been if every period we gave up 3 or more goals was reduced to 0, and we would have had a record of 49-13-2-4-4 good for 108 pts (the extra 4 at the end represents the minimum of 4 additional points we would have gotten for games that would have gone into OT but didn't) which was 20 points more than we ended up with. Now I understand no team is going to get through the entire season without giving up 3 or more goals in a single period at least a few times, but in 216 total regulation periods that Seattle played last year, this happened in 25 periods or 11% of the time. Overall it happened at least once in 20 games or 27% of the season. To me that is way too high (especially considering the fact that our record was 4-16-0-0 when we gave up 3 or more goals in one or more periods (and 2 wins were OTW's) and our record was 39-9-1-3 when we didn't give up 3 or more goals in a period). Basically this is a long winded and stat driven way to say that with our older and stronger defensive core, along with Khaira who can replace Wolf, I expect to see all these numbers go down.<br /><br />2) Although we are probably going to see a decline in goals score as well (but how much remains to be seen), I don't believe this is going to be as big of a problem as some people think it will be. First because of the reason I stated above (when you give up fewer goals, you don't need to score as many to still be successful... Look at the Seahawks), but second because I think the offence is going to have much higher puck possession numbers. Yes last season we scored the most goals as a team since the 07-08 season, but we still spent a lot of time in our own zone. Based on the players we have returning and the new players coming in, I expect to see a lot more time in the offensive zone this season. We all know what Barzal and Gropp bring to the table in terms of their hands, but I also expect to see an improvement in both Ensor's and Kolesar's game in this area as well... And while I have not seen True or Baltram play yet, based on what I have read about them (and paired with the fact that they are both Euro's), I'm assuming they both have good hands for 17 year old's as well (especially Baltram who we most certainly didn't draft for his size (5'10") or at least compared to most other players we have drafted). Pair that with an increased ability for us to get the puck out of our defensive zone (which I think has been a thorn in the T-Birds side for a number of years) and I think we are good to go.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10203634881409897250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761720971433980858.post-25253998395495124512014-08-27T15:05:26.384-07:002014-08-27T15:05:26.384-07:00ive said all offseason that I truly think Tbirds w...ive said all offseason that I truly think Tbirds will be a real young team that will finish in the top 5 in the West this year. They will by no means win the championship or anything but they will make playoff and maybe win 1 round at the most. They are an extremely young team and this seasons experience and the fact that Barzal/Gropp/Bear could be 1st round NHL picks, will make the 2015/16 version of the Tbirds a extremely good team that will push for a title. If the Euros turn out good and the other 17 year olds play well this season, like I said next season will be their year. <br />This season they will be extremely exciting team and score a lot of goals but on the flip side, due to how young they are, they will have a lot of those off games. I am extremely excited to see Seattle play this season and build all the experience. <br />They need to desperately get Dante Fabbro to join the team at somepoint this year(like how Gropp did last year). Him and Khaira would be unbelievable to have in 2015<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761720971433980858.post-9018278830117331332014-08-27T14:53:06.483-07:002014-08-27T14:53:06.483-07:00True looks like his has good skill but he's ve...True looks like his has good skill but he's very thin, so I'm kind of reserving judgment until I see what he can do against bigger and older players. I have a feeling that he might have a tough time with puck protected.<br /><br />Baltram can really skate... but I couldn't get a read on much more than that.<br /><br />So overall, I was encouraged by both of them but I think there is going to be a learning curve for sure.Thunnexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13789566664956835210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761720971433980858.post-3501676703308445732014-08-27T14:51:06.920-07:002014-08-27T14:51:06.920-07:00Tyler,
What did you think of True and Baltram? I...Tyler,<br /><br />What did you think of True and Baltram? It was tough for me to get a read on either of them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com